


Feral

by BubbaKnowlton



Series: Mother of Monsters/Echidna AU [12]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: AU of an AU, Blood, Brief electrocution, Child Death, Dad AU, Lots of random resistance member deaths, M/M, Memory Loss, alien/xeno Hux, angst w a somewhat happy ending I guess, echidna AU, i mean not really but, minor depictions of violence, monster hux, unhappy Leia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-04
Updated: 2017-07-04
Packaged: 2018-11-23 04:16:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11395164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BubbaKnowlton/pseuds/BubbaKnowlton
Summary: The mother of monsters/echidna AU is by the_archivist and I!An alternate ending to the Echidna AUThe Resistance destroys theFinalizer, with all but two of the kids on board. Out of grief, Hux devolves, and the Resistance, Ren, and an Allmother specialist are all out to capture him.





	Feral

**Author's Note:**

> So one day I thought to myself, what would happen if all of the babies died?? And I remembered Archivist and I discussed 'devolution', and thought, 'yes'  
> But I couldn't bring myself to kill ALL of them so the tentacle twins are still alive and (mostly) well  
> Archivist did draw a picture of Hux's final form: https://the17thmuse.tumblr.com/post/162619041195/   
> SO this isn't an official story in the Echidna AU and won't affect future stories lmao, it's just an idea I wanted to do

**Feral**

The _Finalizer_ exploded into a burst of orange, white, and red, stark against the dotted expanse of empty space. Resistance ships peeled away from it, along with surviving TIE fighters. Burning chunks of the ship flew in every direction, a terrible firework of destruction. The crew's life forces screamed as they were wiped away in an instant, becoming one with the power of the universe.

Ren leaned against the wall of their small ship for support, sensing that, and also sensing his children being ripped away from him, the moment of their deaths, how it felt like a chunk of him was being carved away. It was like losing his father, only so much worse, impossibly worse. He looked over at Hux. The man had collapsed into the copilot's seat, staring in absolute horror at the scene in the viewport. He was barely breathing, hands gripping the chair so tightly it looked like the cloth would rip. The twins were on his shoulders, eyes wide and terrified. 

"Don't- Don't look, you two." The twins huddled up at his demand. 

As if his voice had cracked whatever was keeping Hux frozen, the man began trembling. His voice was barely a whisper, " _The kids._ " His breathing quickened, and his voice rose, climbing into hysteria, "The kids. Oh, gods, Ren, the kids. They were on board, they were in our rooms- Ren, my babies, they're gone, they're dead, they're all dead-"

-

A blue hand flipped through an old book, careful not to tear the fragile pages. "According to this, when an immature Allmother is subject to an incorrect ritual, or extreme distress, such as sudden, overwhelming grief, they can actually devolve instead of mature. It often destroys them, physically and mentally, and they can't recover. Poor things."

-

Hux was hysterical, completely inconsolable. Ren was too wrapped up in his own grief to even try to figure out a way to comfort him. He pulled him up and to him, sliding down to the floor and hugging him and the twins, needing to have that reassurance that he had a small part of his family left, the three of them. The twins had finally caught on to what happened, and were making horrible, shrill sounds, burrowing themselves between their parents.

He held Hux as closely as possible, letting the man weep into his shoulder. The twins crawled into Hux's shirt. He wasn't sure how long they sat like that, their ship bobbing in space. Hux's crying quieted, but didn't stop, and his whole body was shaking.

Hux shifted sideways so that the twins wouldn't be crushed between them. Ren tilted his head up so he could look at him. He looked like a wreck. Ren hugged him tighter. "We're going to be okay."

-

He flew them down to the nearest planet, deciding it'd be best if they weren't floating in the wreckage of the _Finalizer_ anymore. Hux refused to let go of him, so he'd picked him up and let him sit on his lap while he piloted. The ship jostled as it landed, and Hux went quiet. Ren checked on the twins, finding that the two of them were asleep.

He looked at Hux, and the man looked like he wasn't even in reality. His eyes weren't looking at anything, pupils impossibly small, and he was completely still. His mouth was slightly open. Ren waved a hand in front of his face, but he didn't respond. He was still breathing, but didn't even blink as Ren stared at him.

"Hux?" No response. He must have been in shock. They stayed in the seat for a while, and eventually Hux seemed to snap back to reality. He looked down at the twins, and then began to cry again. He covered his face with hands and trembled.

-

Whistling an aimless tune, the blond wheeled over to his coworker, refusing to get out of his wheeled office chair. "Hey, have you heard about the Iego boys' zoo?"

"Yes. The whole Specialist department's been arranging to meet them, Veer."

"Their father owned an Allmother. Said it was General Hux from the First Order. Head of Research sent me the info since you're busy ordering supplies for your big guy."

"The Resistance just illegally destroyed them, though."

"Intel says he wasn't on the ship, but his children were. General Organa has been admitted to medical care because of something relating to the Force."

"He's going to devolve."

"Milo. He's going to kill everyone." 

The twi'lek sighed. "Poor thing. He must miss his babies terribly. Hey, I have an idea."

"What?"

"What if we let him kill everyone?"

"Milo-"

"Think about it. He's only going to go after the Resistance. With the First Order gone, there's no need for them. They're getting dangerous. It'll tire him out, and give him a chance to get revenge. I can contain him afterwards."

"No, the higher ups will say you have to get him. Here, I have a die. Let's roll for how many bases to let him go after."

-

Ren went out to get them food the next day. When he came back, Hux was huddled up in a corner, shaking. He put down the bag he'd gotten on the pilot's seat and went to him. "Hux?" He made him turn around, and held back a shout of surprise. Hux looked different, unnaturally so.

He was covering his face, and his fingers were black, with a scaly texture to them. His veins had taken on a greyish tone, and his hands looked bony, as if they'd lost the little amount of flesh on them. Ren grabbed them, and was shocked at how warm he was. He was burning with fever.

He forced his hands down. "What's happening to you?" One of his eyes was different, his pupil a slit, and his iris gone. The sclera was an unhealthy looking grey. His skin was horribly pale.

Hux tried to say something, but no sound came out. Ren pressed at his mind with the force, but was met with a wall of static.

"Where are the twins?" An eyestalk peered out of the bottom of Hux's shirt, and was soon joined by a second one. They were both tucked safely inside of his shirt. Ren patted the bulge where they were, and they wiggled. "I got some food. Are you hungry?" Hux shook his head. "You should eat, anyways."

Ren didn't want to eat, himself, but knew they all needed to. He brought out two of the sandwiches he'd gotten, and two cups of some fruit mash. The sandwich was tasteless to him, and based on the glum look Hux had while he forced himself to eat, Ren guessed he felt the same. As he ate, Ren coaxed the twins out of Hux's shirt so he could feed them the fruit snack. They were wary of the sweetness at first, but then started to like it.

After they finished off the cups, Ren got rid of their wrappers and the containers. He came back to them and settled down next to Hux. Wrapping an arm around him, he leaned his head against Hux's.

-

The changes Hux was going through continued through the night, and they seemed to hurt him. Ren hugged him, rubbing his back as he trembled. His ability to make noise had returned, but he still couldn't speak. He whimpered as his eye returned to normal, only for the other to change. His whole body burned, and the twins peeped and chirped to try and help soothe their mother.

By morning, Hux looked even more different. Both of his eyes were changed, both a solid black; his arms, up to the elbow, were a dark grey, with his fingers ending in claws. His teeth had started to sharpen, and his tongue was rough. 

"Can you speak?" Hux tried, and then shook his head. Ren kissed his forehead. He'd tried to get Hux to eat breakfast, but the man had refused. Concerning, as he seemed to have somehow lost weight. Where he was normally soft and chubby, he was thin. 

By noon he was getting confused. Hux would doze off, then abruptly wake up, look around in a panic, and hold the twins to himself. It'd take him a few seconds to realize where he was and remember that Ren wasn't a threat. He was getting wary of him, not letting him take the twins except to feed them in the evening. Even then, he'd keep pulling them back to himself before they were finished.

His left iris returned, but without a pupil, and the sclera remained black. He'd pressed the heel of his palm against his eye and keened for a moment before pulling it away and blinking a few times.

The twins could still communicate with Hux through the force, their minds not blocked from his. One of them gave a sad chirp, and Hux looked depressed. Soon enough, there were tears falling from his eyes. Guessing that the child had asked or said something about their siblings, Ren went over and held them. He'd been avoiding thinking about the kids, wanting to take care of Hux and the twins.

Hux didn't fall asleep that night, and Ren was too tired to watch over him until he did, and fell asleep himself.

When he woke up, Hux and the twins were gone.

-

"Intel, Milo!"

"Why does no one ever send things to my datapad?"

"Resistance base was raided and all members killed on the planet of Lothal, the nearest planet to where the _Finalizer_ exploded."

"I haven't heard of that planet."

"It's..." Veer scrolled through his datapad. "Farm planet. Not much on it. Except for a base. Supplies were stolen, database looked into, and a ship is gone. Surveillance noted that Kylo Ren's shuttle is a little ways away from it, about three miles."

"Do I have to deal with him?"

"No lightsaber marks anywhere, nor signs of suffocation. Everyone is ripped open by what looks like claws."

"He's devolved, then."

-

Hux sat in the pilot's seat, feeding the twins some food he'd scavenged from the base. They'd been scared of the whole situation, not sure what was going on. It'd all been a blur to him, and he'd come to with blood all over him and the twins trying not to slip out of his shirt. The ship had a sonic in it, so he cleaned himself off and inspected himself. He looked different, and he wasn't sure if he liked it or not. Everything was sore and felt weird. Pain twisted his insides and chest, and he could feel things shifting. He tried to will it to do something useful, something that he could use to protect the twins, squeezing his eyes shut.

When he opened his eyes, he found that his abdomen had a layer of armor over it, which wrapped around his back. He felt somewhat hollow underneath it, an odd emptiness. There was some sort of muscle underneath it, and the armor opened up when he figured out how to move it. It was a pouch. The perfect size for both of the twins to fit inside of.

He'd dressed, leaving behind his belt, and then went back to the twins. They whined for food, so he started to feed them.

As the two ate, he watched the blue streaks of hyperspace outside of the viewport. Once they finished, he cleaned up. After spending a few minutes cuddling with the twins and making sure they were alright, he pulled up his shirt and opened up the pouch. The two were wary of it, but let him put them in. It was a bit too small, but his body shifted to make more room for them so they could nestle comfortably inside of him. He kept it open just a bit so they could get air, and then pulled down his shirt. 

He looked like he was pregnant, with how the armor had formed around the twins. The two of them were small in comparison to most of their siblings, but together they were a decent enough size to make him look he was in his early third term.

He missed the other children. They'd all been far too young to die. His newest had barely been over a month old, the rest hadn't even reached their double digits. Argent was barely over six.

He'd let all of them down, hadn't been able to protect them. He'd only saved two of them because they'd crawled onto the ship. If he had noticed them before they were in hyperspace, they would have been on board and dead too. It wasn't even completely necessary for him to go on that mission. If he'd stayed on board maybe he would have been able to do more. Or he would have blown up with all of them. He wished he had.

The armor was similar to Argent's, with some spots that resembled Cerberus' near his chest. His tongue felt like Amelio's. Maybe he would just turn into something resembling them all before he lost his mind completely. He hoped that when he did he would still be able to take care of Peter and Pear. They deserved to be taken care of properly. 

The two of them were being strong, and he was proud of them. While he was losing himself in his own grief, they were always trying to comfort him. Even though missed their siblings just as much as he did.

-

"Base on Christophsis, out. 2 out of 5 allowances destroyed." Milo crossed out the 2 he'd drawn on his whiteboard. Veer gave a low whistle. "Surveillance footage suggests he may be pregnant, which makes this situation a lot more fragile. However, I think that all of his reproductive organs would have shut down and been absorbed to make the new body parts, so he might just be carrying a surviving child in a pouch."

"He would have miscarried if he was pregnant, is what you're saying."

"Yes and no. He would have, certainly, but I don't think he had anything to miscarry. The Republic squadron I sent grabbed the security tales from the Lothal base before the Resistance could, and it shows he's not pregnant there, rather, he's carrying something in his shirt."

"Organa's status is getting better. She's requested the security files."

"Direct her messages to my datapad, I'll explain that we've got this."

"Alright, I've just messaged Head of Relations to tell her to message you."

"Now, if Hux was pregnant, I'd do an immediate containment, because it would be putting his life in danger. However, if he's just holding a child, then it's not as serious. He's immature, so it's not an Allmother baby. It dying won't kill him, but it'll make him freak out even more."

Veer's commlink went off. "Ah- my Geonosian boy escaped his hold, wait- oh, kriff, I see him, he's in my cubicle." Veer wheeled over to his space. "Hey, Buddy! What's wrong?" The alien clicked at him. "You're hungry? Did your food not arrive on time? Here, you can have my lunch. Milo will give me his." Veer dug out his lunch box and gave the contents to the Geonosian. It sat down on the floor and began to eat.

He wheeled back over. Milo continued, "Now we just want to find him and contain him at our earliest convenience."

"And deal with Organa."

Milo's datapad flashed a message. He looked at it. "Well, we have a lunch date with Organa. She's just been released from the medcenter."

"If it's at Biscuit Baron I will kill you."

"No, it's at a decent restaurant."

"She's paying. Let's go!" The Geonosian shouted at Veer, still hungry. "We'll take my boy with us. Come on, Buddy, let's go eat out!"

-

Organa was accompanied by a pilot and some little Lieutenant girl, who Veer immediately decided he needed to terrify with the Geonosian. Milo sighed as the blond whispered something to the alien. It shifted in its seat. Veer had tucked the Geonosian between he and Milo.

Their table was reserved when they arrived, although it took Organa a few minutes to get there after them. The Geonosian had greedily devoured the basket of chips the waitress had put out, and was eager for more food. Veer wanted to order immediately, but Milo insisted they wait.

After the three were seated and Veer whispered his plan, Milo felt extremely nervous. He was terrified of talking to military leaders, or any sort of leader. He thought he'd gained some confidence after getting one Allmother off the hook for murder, but apparently not. Organa was shorter than them, and looked somewhat frail, but he was intimidated all the same.

"G-good afternoon, Miss Organa. I'm Dr. Milo Silais, and this is my coworker Dr. Veer Horizons and his charge. We're Revival Specialists."

"His name's Buddy. If you try to attack him for any reason at all, I have authorization to shoot you in the head."

Milo could tell Organa already hated them. He wished Veer would stop being himself. "We have no intention of harming it, Doctors. This my pilot, Poe Dameron, and my assistant, Kaydel Ko Connix."

"Now that we've been introduced, let's order." Milo summoned the waitress back over and she gave them menus. Veer shared his menu with Buddy, pointing at the pictures and clicking to him. Buddy slammed his hand on the menu and said something.

Veer laughed. "You can't order everything!" He told him that, and the alien looked unhappy. "Here, I'll order you something good." 

Milo felt too anxious to eat, but selected a light meal anyways. The Resistance trio selected their own meals as well. They each ordered individually, and Veer gave a longer list of food than the others. "A Naboo special, a vegetable and pishne wrap with fries, a side of chips, a large salad, and a blue cheese sandwich combo with a milkshake, and a glass of water with a straw, if you have any."

"Stars, Veer."

"Do you know how many calories this guy needs to consume to be healthy? He's skin and bones."

"They're supposed to look like that."

"Yeah, when they're starving. I'm getting some meat on him. Right, Buddy?"

The Geonosian tried to launch itself at Kaydel with a screech after staring at her. She startled, and scooted back as it swiped at her. Veer laughed, clapping his hands together. Organa glared at them, quickly realizing it was planned. Milo slumped in his seat.

Veer praised Buddy, and things were quiet after that. Once their food arrived, Veer and Buddy dug in. Milo prodded at his own salad, while Poe and Kaydel ate normally. Organa went ahead and began their conversation.

"So, what gives you the authorization to steal the security tapes from my bases?"

"I'd rather not give out too much information, but the person causing the destruction is a member of a very rare species that I'm in charge of containing and reviving."

Poe eyed him nervously. "What do you mean by reviving?"

"We provide housing and necessities to our charges, and encourage them to reproduce or raise their existing children. I currently have only 11 under my care."

"I have one charge," Veer said through a mouthful of food. He and Buddy were sharing, although he didn't let the alien have the cheese or milkshake. Milo suspected the creature couldn't consume dairy.

"What species?"

"You likely haven't heard of it. Allmother." The public relations department had done a good job of keeping the Iego boys' story hidden. "They're shapeshifters, descended from the Force. This one has recently gone under a lot of trauma because of you, and is reacting accordingly."

"Would I know who it was? It surely isn't Kylo Ren."

"Of course not. Ren is human. I'm afraid that information is confidential."

"Under whose authority?"

"My own, Miss Organa. I handle all matters relating to my assignment. Everything must pass through me relating to an Allmother's fate."

She frowned. "Let us handle this."

"Absolutely not. You would kill the creature on sight. Might I remind you, all of your actions leading up to now have been illegal. You were not supposed to attack the First Order."

"So the creature is from the First Order." Leia remembered something. "It's Hux, isn't it? He's the creature. One of my men told me he was inhuman."

"If you make an attempt on the Allmother's life, you will be dealt with accordingly."

"He is a war criminal!"

"I am a member of the Endangered Species Revival Specialists, and it my life's duty to protect and revive any Allmother I come across. This one has lost their mind and is rapidly devolving, and I will contain them and give them a happy, protected life with their surviving child in my facility, and your organization will be meeting the end of a blaster barrel should you do anything but let me retrieve the Allmother in peace."

"He blew up the Hosnian system," Poe stared at him with wide eyes. "Who cares if he's some alien-"

"The Endangered Species Protection Act states that any member of an endangered species under criminal charges will receive no punishment if they can be contained otherwise. Your name is on that bill, ma'am."

"You're endangering the galaxy."

"I am not permitted to tell you any more. You will not be receiving the footage until after the Allmother is safely contained. I will be asking my sponsors to keep you occupied so you will not be bored waiting."

She looked ready to kill him. "Your sponsors?"

"Yes. Many senators decided to sponsor me after I contained possibly the largest and most dangerous Allmother recorded, the most dangerous creature the ESRS has ever contained. Don't worry, it will be much easier to catch our little grieving mother. I have a knack for convincing them to come with me."

She clearly understood what he meant. If she had to deal with sudden backlash from the senate, then she'd be too busy defending the Resistance to try and get the footage back from him. Dameron looked angry as well. "What do you mean?"

"I approach them, offer a home in my facility, give them supplies and erase criminal charges, and promise to protect them and their children. I have three adults and eight children under my care, all of them far more powerful than the devolution on the loose. I have a degree in psychology and am a qualified therapist for trauma related and panic disorders."

Buddy grabbed Milo's food and started eating that. He and Veer had finished their meal. Kaydel eyed the two of them nervously.

Veer stood up. "Well, thank you for the wonderful meal, Miss Organa! Buddy, Milo, and I really appreciated it. We hope you have a wonderful day, and we need to get back to work. We're busy saving the galaxy."

"We're-"

"Finished fighting a ridiculous war. Go home, Organa. You've killed so many recently, doesn't it make you _tired?_ " He smiled. "I can't wait to see what your son has to say about you murdering his children. I imagine he'll be quite furious."

Milo gave him a confused look. Veer shrugged and lifted up his comm. A message displayed, a piece of an exchange with the brothers who knew the Allmother's identity. "Organa! First Darth Vader and Han Solo, and now Kylo Ren- you're surrounded by dreadful men. Pity you blew up your grandkids, they had no gender."

Standing up, Milo sighed. "Good day, Organa. I have a lot to do, but I enjoyed our talk."

Buddy started walking away, so the two of them quickly followed. As they left, Veer said loudly, "Politics sure are something!"

-

His vision was blurry, and everything looked red. He vaguely understood that he was in a Resistance base, killing people, but it didn't make him feel any better or worse. His memory was getting fuzzy, and he didn't really know where he was from or what he was doing this for. It was supposed to be making him feel better, but he didn't know how. The twins kept reminding him, but he'd forget after a few minutes. They still reminded him anyways, they were such good children. He didn't deserve them.

Everything hurt, and everything burned. He didn't know what to do. Nothing relieved it, so all he could do was clean himself up once he was back to his senses and take care of the twins. He'd numbly punch in some coordinates he didn't know he knew, and then feel terrible.

He got shot, and didn't even feel any pain. He looked down at his shoulder, and something inside of him shriveled up and absorbed into him so that the wound could heal itself.

He passed the time by thinking about his children, and all of the memories he still had of them. He was terrified to forget about them, but everything still seemed vivid. He just couldn't recall where they were in the memories, or who the people around him were. Oh, right, he thought, Ren. He'd forgotten about him until remembering how awkward he was trying to play with Argent for the first time. He should have missed Ren, but he found that he didn't care. He just missed his children.

There was a wet feeling on his face, and he wasn't sure if it was just blood or if he was crying. Both, maybe.

-

He found himself feeding Pear in the ship, Peter playing with a piece of string on the floor. He was all clean, and there was an empty cup on the dashboard, so he'd already fed Peter. Pear stared up at him, wondering why he'd suddenly stopped. Sighing, Hux continued to feed them.

After he fed them, he placed them on the floor with their twin. The two locked tentacles and rolled around. Looking at the navicomputer, he could see they were headed for an ice world, for some reason. He didn't want the twins to freeze, so he'd have to cover up, even with his fever.

When he turned around, he saw that apparently he'd gathered a bunch of supplies, including new clothes. He'd already changed, somehow, and he had no idea where his old clothes were.

He also had no idea why they were going to an ice world. Were they meeting someone? After finding a thick coat in the pile he'd gathered, he kneeled down next to the twins. "Hello, darlings." The two chirped happily at him, rolling into his knee. He picked them up. "Do you two know where we're going?"

Two voices entered his mind, " _We're going to another Resistance Base, Mama!_ " 

That sounded like something he should have known. When did he lose so much of his memory? "Well, this might sound quite dumb, but what's that?"

The two exchanged a look. " _It's the group that kill all of our siblings. You're going to destroy them, remember?_ "

Everything hurt. "They were murdered?" He knew they were dead, it was the one thing he knew besides his name and the twins, but how could he forget that? "What- why?" Hysteria built inside of him, threatening to burst.

" _Because the Resistance are awful people and they don't care about anyone but themselves! They're all monsters!_ "

They'd never done anything wrong, they were too young and small. Argent hadn't even reached double digits yet, Sable wasn't even a year-

-

When he came to his senses, he was laying on the floor of the moving ship, cold and shivering. Everything smelled of blood, and he had snow on him. There was movement inside of him, the twins making distressed noises. He felt sick, and his head pounded. He didn't want to move. The twins didn't give up, pushing at the walls of the pouch with all their strength. 

"Mum's okay..." He stayed there for a few minutes, exhausted. He forced himself to sit up, despite how dizzy it made him feel. "I'm alright." The twins settled down. He stood up and looked around. There was a puddle of water and blood where he'd been laying down. His clothes were wet, so he stripped them off, leaving them on the pile. He stumbled to the ship's refresher, but it wasn't where it was supposed to be.

This was a completely different ship.

It was a lot bigger than the other one. He wandered around until he found the refresher. It had more to it, and the sonic was bigger, with a tub attached. He took a sonic to get the blood off of him, and rinsed out his mouth. Then he filled the tub with warm water, and got in it, trying to warm himself up. The twins started to squirm again, so he opened the pouch and pulled them out. They didn't like the water, never a fan of baths, and were content to stay on the edge of the tub, a small counter connecting it to the wall.

He rested his head on it, and the twins snuggled up to him, resting their eyestalks on his face. "Are you two alright?" He took the purring sounds they made as a yes. 

-

The bath didn't do much to warm him up, but he felt nice and clean, so at least it had some use. He put the twins back in the pouch as he explored the ship. Finding some clothes, he got dressed. He found what must have been the captain's quarters in one room, with a real bed, and climbed onto it. The twins crawled out of the pouch. They settled on a pillow, cuddling each other.

This was nice. Just the three of them, in a big ship, with nothing to bother them. He'd rather have all the children with him, but this would do.

He wrapped an arm loosely around the twins. They moved slightly to touch his arm.

" _I wish Papa was here..._ " One of the twins said.

" _Yeah... I wonder where he is..._ " The other agreed.

His memory really was awful if he couldn't even remember who the father of his children were. Since whoever he was was not around, and were still alive by the sound of it, he couldn't have been worth missing all that much.

-

Milo crossed off the three and four on his whiteboard. "Alright, let's go meet him after this last one."

"No way, I'm not going. You're doing this guy by yourself."

"But-"

"You contained the big guy without me. Listen, Milo, your charges? They're scary. Like, actually scary. I know I joke about them and all, but they're terrifying when they want to be or aren't in control. Buddy's real easy to subdue, a Geonosian relies on weapons, and he just has his little old hands. Deity wiped out a trained military squadron just by moving their arm. This guy's ripping people to shreds with his hands and teeth."

"That's not reassuring."

"They've never raised a hand to you! Jack's threatened you and all, but he was just nervous and literally bristling. This guy doesn't have a sense of reason- it's just aimless murder. It used to have a purpose, but he just looks sad and numb. I bet he wakes up not knowing where he is or what's going on, only to find himself waking up again in some other spot."

"Veer- that's it. He's stuck in some kind of dream. Devolutions can't wake up."

"That's not what I meant."

"But that's the answer! He's awake, yes, but he's still dreaming. You can't distinguish what's going on in a dream, you just go with it, and you only know what's happening! He's trapped in some state between conscious and not, and his body reacts accordingly. It's a coping mechanism. I bet all he knows is his name, his surviving child, and that his children are dead. Nothing else. No how, no why-"

"He's sleep walking."

"While awake, yes. I just- I just have to integrate into his dream." His datapad blared. Milo grabbed it. "Reason to suspect he's on Naboo."

"Don't die, Silais."

-

Hux wanted to throw up, but there was nothing in his stomach, and he wasn't even sure he had one anymore. He'd come to his senses in the middle of some awful building, and his body didn't look the same anymore. It was all armored and he had all sorts of extra limbs he didn't want. His head was pounding and his fever was back in full force. The twins trembled inside of him. 

All of the new sensations from his new body parts were overwhelming and awful. It seemed like his whole body was weighing him down, and the only part of him that remained somewhat humanoid was his chest up, excluding his arms. He felt his face, and it didn't feel like skin.

What was he? He hauled himself down a hallway, stepping over corpses that looked more like shredded meat than they did bodies, and found a reflective viewport. He looked at himself.

His first thought was that he was hideous, a monster, but then he realized what he actually looked like. 

He looked like someone had taken pieces of the kids and a jumbled them all together, and then stuck his upper body on it. His tongue felt horrible in his mouth, rough like Amelio's had been; his eyes, save for his one blue iris, looked like Sable; he had armor that resembled Argent, Mikael, and Cerberus'; there was a fin down his back like Simon's legs, and his body resembled a mixture between Argent, the quintuplets, and Reven.

He could have spent a long time figuring out which parts of him resembled which of his deceased children, but something told him that he was about to be confronted and he needed to leave.

-

Hux had no idea which ship was his, and doubted he'd be able to fit into any of the ones available. He couldn't just run off into the wilderness, he wouldn't be able to feed the twins. Everything hurt and he was sick and tired of it. The galaxy had decided to curse him with a terrible life, and he hated it. He hated that he could hardly remember anything, and hated that all but two of his children were gone and that the only thing he could remember was what they looked like and sounded like because everything else was so blurred or just missing.

A large ship descended down. There was nowhere for him to run. The twins were broadcasting terrified feelings at him, and he felt helpless. 

He wanted to be left alone. Just him and the twins. He didn't want to wake up covered in blood and being pursued. The galaxy hated him for a reason he couldn't remember, so there was no way he would ever just be let be.

The ship landed, and a ramp descended. He expected some kind of militant group, but instead it was just a single person. Some blue alien of a species he couldn't recall the name of.

They looked nice, and smiled at him, coming down the ramp. They were terrified, but were hiding it.

"Hello, Hux!"

They knew his name, and panic rose inside of him. Maybe it would just be easier to kill this person, let himself go and wake up far away with no memory of what happened.

"My name is Dr. Milo Silais. I'm a member of the Endangered Species Revival Specialists. I'm here to help you."

Could he trust him? The twins couldn't hear what was going on and were still scared, which only made his anxiety worse.

"Don't be afraid! I'm really just here to help. It's my job to protect your species. You have a child, right? I can protect them too."

That was a tempting offer, but he was still too scared.

"They will stay with you, don't worry. I have no intention of separating you from your baby. The only thing I want to separate you from is the rest of the galaxy. I own a facility that you can stay in. No one outside of my organization knows where it is, you'll be safe there."

He just wanted to be left alone.

"I know you're scared, you've been through a lot. You're devolving, that's why. Something terrible happened to your babies and this is how your mind decided to have you cope. I want you to come with me, because an awful organization wants to kill you, and I can keep you safe from them. I promise you and your baby will be comfortable. Just come onto my ship. I have a tank you can clean up and get rest in."

If anything went wrong, he could just kill this man and take the ship. He reluctantly followed him up. The ship was big and mostly empty, with soft lights. Milo led him into what looked like a cargo hold, with a large tank in it. There was a pile of towels and a big blanket with some pillows.

Someone entered the room, and he panicked.

-

Milo realized he should have told the rest of the crew not to come out once the Allmother was in, because Hux immediately lost himself when he saw someone. Milo averted his eyes until Hux had reduced the person into a pile of unidentifiable mush. He was thankful he hadn't spoken much to the crew and didn't befriend them.

Hux was breathing hard, making small whining sounds between breaths.

"It's okay, they're gone. Calm down." Milo slowly approached him. "It's alright. No one can hurt you anymore, I promise. Do you understand?" Hux blinked, and then looked around in confusion. "Hux? Do you remember me? I'm Dr. Silais, I'm going to bring you somewhere safe. That tank right there is for you and your baby, so you can get clean and rest."

Hux nodded slowly, and then went into the tank. He began wiping the blood off of himself. Once he'd ruined the towel, he tossed it out of the door. After cleaning all of the blood off of him, he curled up on top of the blanket. He reached into the bulge of his abdomen and pulled out two children, gently setting them onto a pillow he tugged to be against him. The two made loud noises, and Hux stroked them and murmured to try and calm them down.

-

Milo slumped against the wall once it looked like Hux and his two babies were sound asleep. He dimmed the lights and then pulled out his holoprojector. He called Veer.

"Hey, Silais!" Milo shushed him. "Oh, hey."

"I've got him. It was... pretty easy, actually. I think he's really tired. He blacked out once for just a minute and completely forgot who I was. He's really far gone."

"And his baby?"

"Little twins. Look like balls of tentacles. They're pretty scared. I'm gonna give them some pudding when we get to the facility, they deserve a treat."

"What about the big guy, what does he eat?"

"Oh, I don't think he eats. The scanner doesn't indicate he has a stomach. He has a pouch, some lungs, and a couple of hearts-"

"A couple of hearts?"

"He's pretty big. The hearts are in his uh... Leg body."

"Leg body."

"I'm not a scientist, Veer! I'm a therapist!"

"Mira would die if she heard you use the term leg body in her presence. She's a biologist."

"Anyways, I'm going to be busy getting him into his enclosure. Also, my ship's being followed by some First Order shuttle, even through hyperspace, and we've switched course twice."

"Must be Ren. Just let him follow and tell him what's up. Maybe he can use the Force to help the big guy's memory. Anyways, Organa is freaking out. They got footage."

"Doesn't matter, she can't do a thing."

-

The planet his facility was on was remote and hard to access. The building itself was on a high mountain, with only one landing platform that the ship took up the entirety of. It also a force field over it, with only one entry point once it was up. A door at the edge of the mountain top. Ren's shuttle had to veer off and land somewhere down in the jungle.

Milo guided Hux out of the ship and into the building as soon as they were properly landed. The room was relatively empty, with only an indent in the floor with a large mattress in it, so Milo let Hux bring the blanket and pillows with him.

Hux settled in the center of the big mattress, and Milo brought over two pudding cups for the twins, along with a spoon. Hux warily took it, and then seeing it was sealed, relaxed a bit. He fed the twins and then coaxed them to sleep. Milo took the spoon and containers back, and let them be. 

-

After depositing the containers into a garbage chute, he dropped off the spoon at the kitchen to be washed by the cleaning droid. All of the facility workers were droids except for him and the ship pilots. The pilots stayed on their ship, though. 

So the only living beings in the facility were him, three adult Allmothers, four Allmother children, a tank of semi-sentient hybrids, and two sentient hybrid children. As he walked down the hall to go see how E.C.D. was doing, he came across Jack. The brunet smiled at him.

"Hello, Dr. Silais!"

"Hello, Jack. How are you?"

"Good! I was just going for a walk before bed. My kids are all tucked in for the night."

"That's good." He thought of something. "Hey, I have a favor to ask of you."

Jack's smile went away. "Um."

"I've contained a new Allmother. He's immature, and he's... devolved. He has two children with him, little squishy things, and his memory is awful."

"Like how I lost mine when my ritual went wrong?"

"Sort of. He remembers some things. Like his name, his twins, and how his other children are all dead."

Jack lifted a hand to his mouth. "Oh no."

"Yeah... That caused the devolution. Things are about to get rough, there's a visitor looking for him, so I want you to help keep him calm. I think he might react well to having a mature Allmother with him. You don't look threatening at all, and you're very trustworthy."

Jack looked down at himself, frowning. "I'm too weak looking and cuddly, aren't I?"

It was true, so Milo chose not to answer instead of lying. "Just bring him some food for his kids and talk to him, and I don't think he'll black out and forget who you are every few minutes. It'll help keep him calm when the visitor gets in."

"W-who's the visitor?"

"His husband, whom he doesn't remember at all."

-

Hux hated waking up with no idea where he was and what was happening. It was worse when he realized that someone was kneeling down next to his head. They didn't appear to be a threat, but the twins didn't know who they were, and he couldn't trust anyone.

"Hello, Armitage. I'm Jack."

He hated his first name, never told anyone. He lashed out at Jack, but the brunet just shifted a hole in his body where Hux had tried to strike. Strong tendrils wrapped around his wrist, holding him in place. 

"Don't be scared! I'm an Allmother, just like you."

Yes, that was what he was. He could remember that now. He was an Allmother, some sort of alien.

"Here, I brought some food for your babies. Dr. Silais said they should eat some healthy foods." Jack picked up two bowls of brightly colored mush. The tendrils gently released, so Hux pulled his arm back. He tried to attack again, but spikes came out of Jack and stopped him. It hurt, but he began to heal as soon as he jerked away, dizziness overwhelming him.

The twins whimpered. Hux used two of his lower arms to hold them close. He didn't like that he couldn't fight this person. Trying to strike again just resulted in more spikes. 

"I'm more powerful than you, devolution."

He was terrified, and tucked the twins in the pouch, backing away. "Leave me alone..."

"No, it's alright! I don't mean to scare you!" Jack looked guilty. "Usually I'm the one being scared! Um, um-" Jack held out the bowls again. "H-here! You have to feed your babies. Dr. Silais said they'd be hungry."

"Who's that?"

"The man who can protect us from anyone! He's very nice, and I promise he'll help you. He helped me!"

"What did he do?"

"I killed someone, and he got me out of jail so I could be with my own babies. Um! The person I killed was going to kill my babies, so don't be scared, I'm not a bad person! Dr. Silais is going to have another doctor try to perform some surgery on you so that you don't have to worry about anyone hurting you in an awful way."

"I-is this a safe place?"

"Yes, it's very safe here. You and your babies will be safe and happy as long as you stay in this room or with Dr. Silais." Hux took the bowls from him. "I know you have memory problems, so I promise I'll help you whenever you forget something!"

-

"I don't do surgeries for free."

"Of course not!" Milo hated interacting with Niomi's surgeon. The man was completely apathetic towards everything living, and had no problem neutering an endangered species. 

"If I'm attacked, Niomi will kill you."

"Yes, I know. Don't worry, my other Allmother will keep him calm, and we'll keep him sedated the entire time."

"I'm not happy about this."

"I know he's large, but it will be fine, I promise. You just have to remove all the excess organs that aren't the pouch. He can keep that."

"Obviously. I know the difference between a pouch and a uterus. You told me to remove the non vital organs, and the pouch is vital to his children. Are the droids prepared?"

Milo nodded. "Yes. How long will it take you to make a surgical plan?"

"Oh, I'll just go along with things after I get the scan. If he's anything like Niomi, he'll heal no matter what I do."

-

Jack held his head in his lap, smiling down at him. "Things are going to be okay, Armitage. I'll take care of your babies until you wake up. They can play with mine while we wait."

Hux was feeling drowsy, his body light. The twins were by his arm, snuggled up as various droids flew over him, hooking up tubes and giving injections. He was too tired to speak.

Humming, Jack brushed aside his hair. "As soon as you're asleep, the surgeon will come in. It'll go over quickly. Niomi said he does very precise and quick work. Niomi is another one of us. I don't like them much, but I don't see why they would lie about this. They're trustworthy."

The door slid open. "Go to sleep, little devolution. I'll fix you right up. You, defective Allmother, take the creatures and leave."

"Defective...?"

"Yes, that is what you are. Leave, I need to get to work." Jack slipped away and gathered the twins. Peter and Pear chirped a goodbye, and the three left. Hux looked at the surgeon. He didn't look pleased. "Sleep, devolution."

Hux closed his eyes.

-

"Wakey wakey, Mr. Devolution!" Hux heard a child's voice say.

"His name is Mr. Hux, Sakkara."

"Mr. Hux, wake up!" Opening his eyes, Hux was greeted by an alien child's face. Another species he felt he should know, but didn't. "Hello! I'm Sakkara! Your kids missed you! They're really cool and we're friends now!"

There was tightness around his body, and he looked down to see bandages and bacta packs. His abdomen was free of bandages, the only place that didn't ache at all. He pushed himself up with his arms and looked around. He didn't know where he was, but it seemed familiar.

The twins were on the lap of another child, a green one that looked very different from the one kneeling next to him. There was a brunet adult next to them.

"Armitage, do you remember where you are?"

He shook his head.

"This is a facility that protects Allmothers, run by Dr. Silais. I'm Jack, an Allmother just like you."

"...Are we friends?" His voice didn't sound the same anymore, more gravelly. 

"I suppose. I'm like your guide! I remind you of things, and Dr. Silais left me with you to get you accustomed to this place. These are two of my kids, Sakkara and Kiran." Jack seemed kind and nonthreatening. The twins looked happy with their new friend. "Sakkara is making you a chart on a datapad so whenever you forget things you can just look at the diagrams!"

"Yup! I'm the best person at tech stuff in the building!" Sakkara grabbed the datapad and turned it on. They began typing on it.

"Dr. Silais and I aren't very good with technology."

His head started to throb. Kiran stared at him. "Mama, he's shifting."

"Oh, let's give Mr. Hux some space, alright? Sakkara, let's go. Armitage, we'll watch over your twins until you're all settled, okay?"

"I'll finish the datapad before you wake up! That way you won't be scared when you're all done shifting and don't remember us again."

-

Milo had just learned that he was absolutely terrified of Force users, and he wasn't happy about it. The visitor had managed to get in, and Kylo Ren looked desperate. Milo supposed he, like the devolution, was still grieving, and he'd probably been worried and scared ever since the devolution took their remaining two babies and fled.

"Where's Hux?!"

"Ah-"

"I know you took him here! Give him back to me, the twins too."

"I can't... He's recovering from surgery..."

"What happened to him?!"

"I thought it best to sterilize him. It keeps Allmothers calm when they don't have to worry about ever getting pregnant again. He's resting."

"Take me to him!"

Milo didn't want to. He wasn't sure how the devolution would react. Jack had said he was shifting again. He was settling into one last form, and Milo doubted he'd come back enough from the dream he was in to view his husband as anything but a threat. 

"Dr. Silais!" Jack ran up to them, grabbing Milo's arm. "Armitage finished shifting! You're going to want to see this-" Seeing Ren, Jack hid behind Milo, yelping. 

"It's okay, Jack, he won't hurt you." He hoped not, anyways. 

"Is he gonna hurt Armitage...?"

"I would never hurt him! Let me see them!"

"He shouldn't, Dr. Silais, it's really really bad... He's really far gone... His babies said he turned into a mash up of his other children, and it's really... You should have him put in the container next to E.C.D., it'd be good for him. I'll take care of his babies, I promise."

Milo had no idea what to think of that. He couldn't imagine what the devolution could possibly look like that would freak Jack out so much. "I'll do an assessment and see if he can continue raising the twins. Hm, Kylo Ren, I suppose you can see them. I'll let you handle the twins, but until I examine Hux, you shouldn't go near him."

-

He didn't know what he'd been expecting, but it wasn't _this._ Milo sighed, looking at the large and complicated form that Hux had taken on. Kiran and Sakkara were in front of the window to the room, with the twins. Hux was lowered down in front of it, holding a datapad.

Sakkara had another datapad, and was typing in a messaging program. Kiran was holding up the twins so that Hux could be close to them.

Kiran noticed them first and nudged their older sibling. Sakkara grinned. "Mama, I calmed him down! I got him to look at the datapad and he calmed right down! I've been answering his other questions, too! When is he going to get the twins back? Oh- who's that?"

The twins spotted Ren and started chirping excitedly, squirming. Hux looked confused, knocking on the transparisteel and frowning. 

"Kids!" Ren scooped up the two, hugging them. "You're alright! I was so worried about you two..." 

Hux banged harder on the viewport, looking distressed. Sakkara frowned. "Dr. Silais, Hux wants to know who that is."

"He doesn't remember me?" Ren stepped up to the viewport. "Hux, it's me. Ren. You have to remember me."

Sakkara typed that in. Hux growled after reading the message, both sets of teeth bared. 

"What happened to you...? I should have kept a closer eye on you."

Milo answered, "He's devolved. It's a coping mechanism by immature Allmothers for dealing with things like extreme grief. His body changed shape, and he's in a dreamlike state. He only remembers his name and your children."

"Hux..."

Sakkara was still waiting, so Milo explained, "This is Mr. Hux's husband, Kylo Ren, the father of his children. He's been looking for them. He's not a threat."

Hux calmed down after that message, but still looked unhappy. 

The twins were still snuggling against their father, so Ren focused back on them. Hux relaxed more seeing that the two were safe and happy. Milo spoke up, "Since he's calm, I suppose you can go in."

-

Ren was surprised that Hux didn't try to attack him at all. He really looked different, and his force presence was different as well. Something strong, powerful, _unstable_. The man and children had felt powerful, the man's presence a depth that threatened to drag him under. Hux's was an explosion waiting to happen. Briefly, he wondered what would happen if it were to burst. Would he be cured? Would he lose himself forever? Would he forget the children?

That last thought frightened him. Hux wouldn't be _Hux_ if he did not mourn and love the children at every moment. He would no longer be Hux, but a creature. 

The twins eventually wanted to return to their mother. Hux took them and settled down, his lower body resting much like Argent always did with all their legs. He laid on his side so his upper body could rest on a pile of pillows. The twins chirped to him, and he wrapped his thin arms around them.

His upper body looked frail, while the beast beneath him was anything but.

He looked like a mash up of all the children, some sort of puzzle put together by the unforgiving Force that had taken them all away. As he matched each of the kids to a piece of Hux, he realized that he did know all of their names. It was ridiculous that he'd kept telling himself he didn't.

" _Papa, don't cry!_ " The twins looked up at him, worried. 

"It's alright, you two, I'm just really glad you're all safe." He sat down next to them. "You really don't remember me?"

"Not at all. The twins do, and I trust them. Did we love each other?" His voice was similar, but scratchy, like his throat was sore. 

"Yes. You loved me long before I loved you, though. It took me a while to finally get used to you and all the kids. Hux, can I tell you some things? I never told you before, because I didn't want to upset you, but... But I need to get it off of my chest before the guilt kills me. It's fine if you and the twins hate me forever, I just... I need you to know the truth."

"Okay."

"I'll start with something small. When you were expecting Argent, I was forced to go visit you in the medcenter. I didn't want to, I hated you and didn't believe that they were my child. I didn't want to show up for the birth, but the nurse dragged me to the room and then you had a death grip on my hand the rest of the time."

"That's rude."

"Yeah, I know. You told me you fell in love with me when you were in labor because of how helpful and caring I was, but I was terrified and had no idea what I was doing."

"Hmm. This isn't a very good first impression."

" _Papa was a good papa!_ " The twins insisted, and Hux stroked them to calm them down.

"Thanks, kids. Uh, this one is kind of silly, but I spent forever thinking I didn't know all of our kids' names? Just realized a minute ago that I actually do."

Hux didn't look very impressed with him. He sighed. "At least you do now."

"I can't tell the multiples apart, though. Sorry, you two."

The twins wriggled unhappily. They showed off tentacles that made them different. Peter had a tentacle with more black on it on their back, while Pear had a tentacle with barely any black on their side. Peter's main right 'arm' tentacle was slightly longer than Pear's.

"I'll remember that, don't worry. I've used the Force on the kids before. Most of the time it was little things, to get them to settle or sleep, but I once did it to Mavin, and... I screwed up. I wasn't ready to try removing memories, and I altered their personality. It made them prone to bouts of anger and tantrums, and made them always want to be better than everyone and fight their siblings. I didn't tell you because I didn't realize it until it was too late. They'd hurt themselves because of me."

Peter and Pear were staring at him, eyes down by their bodies. 

"I killed one of the kids." He couldn't look at Hux. "I- I'm so sorry. I panicked. We had an Allmother child, but it sucked out your life force, and you died giving birth. I couldn't handle it, and killed the child and transferred the life force back into you. I lied to you and said it was a stillborn, and that you'd almost died. You blamed yourself for it, but it was my fault. I thought you'd hate me forever, so I never told you."

Hux stared at him, silent. He blinked, and the pupil in his left eye, which looked completely normal, went small. Blinking again, it was normal sized.

"Who are you?"

He couldn't take the truth, even with such poor memory. Hux would never have been able to handle it if he was normal.

The twins whined, moving to Hux and burying against him. 

"I'm sorry." Ren got up and left. "I'm so sorry. I'm going to leave."

-

As he tried to exit, the twi'lek doctor blocked him. "Move."

"I'm afraid I can't let you leave. You know where the facility is."

"I can't stay with them. The twins are scared of me."

Milo shook his head. "No. I can give you a separate room, but you can't leave. You and Hux don't ever have to see each other again, and I'd rather you not ever come into contact with the other Allmothers."

"Alright."

"Dr. Silais, won't the Republic be looking for him?" Jack pointed out. "What do we do about that?"

"Well... I'll just convince them I can contain Kylo Ren. Will you cooperate with me, Mr. Ren? I'm going to chain you up and broadcast to the senate that I've got you. I might need to hurt you a bit, though, and I'm sorry in advance. But if it works, I can convince them to ignore you and your husband."

-

"It seems we have a message from the Endangered Species Revival Specialists. It's marked very urgent."

Leia knew, somehow, that it was the doctor she'd had lunch with. She'd been invited by the senator of Naboo to listen to the latest meeting, in hopes to spread awareness about what Hux had done and ask for more men to track him down.

"Let's see what they have to say."

A large hologram of Milo appeared, with Kylo Ren beside him. He was in cuffs, on his arms, legs, with a muzzle of some kind, and a collar, which had a lead attached to it, the end of which was in Milo's hand. It looked like a shock collar. Ren looked sad.

"Hello, senators, representatives. My name is Dr. Milo Silais. I'm an ESRS Specialist, and therapist. I am in charge of the species known as Allmothers, a shapeshifting species closely tied to the Force. Today, I have two updates for you, and I think you'll all find it very relieving. A few of my sponsors already know, and have been keeping others from spreading false and biased information."

That explained the group of senators that had kept her busy and caught in long and useless conversation. 

Milo continued, gesturing to Ren, "As you can see, I have Kylo Ren in custody. After the death of his children, he no longer wants to fight. I will contain him as I do my Allmothers, in a secret and inescapable facility of which only I know the location of. He has agreed to this, and will be kept locked up until he dies or I chose to dispose of him."

Her son's life was now in this man's hands. 

"I am sure you must be wondering how I managed to capture him. It was easy. I did not need to use Jedi or brute force, I merely convinced him to stay." An obvious jab at her and her brother. "I know you all must worried about whether or not he could be dangerous. However, I have measures against that. Watch."

He pressed a button on the end of the lead, and Ren screamed as he was shocked. Milo pressed it again, and it stopped. Ren collapsed to his knees. "As you can see, I have things under control. He is no longer an issue. The other thing I need to tell you is what has really been going on with the disappearing Resistance bases."

She would never be able to convince the Senate to go after Hux, she was sure now.

"The Resistance attacked and destroyed the First Order, blowing up their flagship, the _Finalizer._ I don't doubt they planned to blow up both Kylo Ren and General Hux, but they failed to do so. Instead, they killed the majority of their children, excluding their twin children. Hux is an Allmother, and due to the grief he experienced, his shapeshifting developed incorrectly, and he has undergone what is referred to as 'devolution.' He lost his memory, and is in a state similar to sleepwalking, as a way to cope with his grief. He destroyed the bases with no idea of what he was doing, revenge without knowing exactly what he was getting revenge for."

The Naboo senator was staring at her.

"General Armitage Hux has gone from this..." Milo held out a smaller hologram of Hux, in his uniform, standing straight and tall. "To this." He switched the hologram to a monstrous form that barely resembled Hux at all. Ren looked up at the hologram. 

Putting away the hologram, Milo took a deep breath. "I captured and contained him in my facility, where he is being kept with his little twins. He's had surgery to calm him down, and is content in his room. He no way nor desire to escape, and his life is now under my jurisdiction. With no memory of the now extinct First Order, and no way back to civilization, he is no longer a threat. The Endangered Species Protection Act states that any member of an endangered species that is facing criminal charges will be absolved of their crimes if they can be contained elsewhere, and I am using that right to contain Hux in my facility. I hope that I have eased your anxieties, and that you all have a nice day. If there are any questions, please contact the Public Relations department of the ESRS."

The hologram disappeared. Many senators looked relieved. Leia walked away, knowing nothing she could say could change their minds.

-

Milo felt like he was going to pass out. Speaking to leaders really terrified him, and shocking Ren had taken a lot out of him. He took the bindings off Ren and set them aside. Ren rubbed his neck. 

"L-let's get you into your room."

-

The room was very lonely. A droid brought him food three times a day, and he was was given new changes of clothes. After a few days, he'd found that there was nothing he could really do but meditate or work out. The datapad he'd been given was rather boring, with child restrictions on the HoloNet. 

He meditated on his bed, and could feel two little Force presences reaching out to him. He let them connect, surprised that it was Peter and Pear.

" _Papa, we miss you... Are you going to come see us ever again?_ "

 _I thought you were scared of me,_ he sent back.

" _We were just upset. You always promised you'd never use the Force to do things to us, but you lied, and then you hurt Mavin really badly... But we understand, and we want to see you again._ "

**Author's Note:**

> Follow/talk to me on Tumblr! @Oblioknowlton or @Tinybibmpreg


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